Epilatory Device

ABSTRACT

An epilatory device incorporating a flat elongate body having an adhesive paste medium applied to a first side of the body, wherein the ratio of the length of the flat elongate body to the length of the adhesive paste is from 1.25:1 to 1.15:1 and/or the ratio of the area of the flat elongate body to the area of the adhesive paste is from 1.87:1 to 1.65:1. The adhesive paste medium is a cold epilatory wax. It provides efficacious hair removal without leaving significant wax residue on a user&#39;s skin.

The present invention relates to a new epilatory device and its application to hair removal. Hair removal, particularly for cosmetic purposes, is performed by several techniques. The technique of electrolysis, electrical devices gripping and pulling out the hair, for example with the aid of rotating parts, chemical agents such as sulphides, the conventional tweezers, as well as hot and cold epilatory waxes, may be used for example.

Cold epilatory waxes are generally applied to a thin backing in the form of a strip.

Such a wax will hereinafter be termed adhesive paste medium. Traditionally, a film of cellophane or a non woven material having the adhesive paste medium applied directly on one side of the strip is used. This type of product is commonly referred to as a cold wax strip and is typically found in the general shape of a rectangle.

Such cold wax strips are used as follows: the user presses the strip firmly onto the area to be epilated, the adhesive medium being placed in the direction of the area to be depilated, then one end of the backing strip is grasped and pulled sharply away from the area to be depilated. The hairs trapped in the adhesive paste medium are therefore removed from the treated area and in principle the whole of the adhesive paste medium remains attached to the backing strip.

However, a disadvantage of known cold wax strips is that a user can find a cold wax strip difficult to use and achieve consistent efficacy.

Therefore according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an epilatory device comprising a flat elongate body having an adhesive paste medium applied to a first side of the body, wherein the ratio of the length of the flat elongate body to the length of the adhesive paste is from 1.25:1 to 1.15:1.

The ratio of the length of the elongate body to the length of adhesive paste is typically from 1.24:1 to 1.21:1. According to a particularly preferred embodiment the ratio of the length of the elongate body to the length of adhesive paste is typically 1.23:1.

The length of the flat elongate body is typically 160 mm or less.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an epilatory device comprising a flat elongate body having an adhesive paste medium applied to a first side of the body, wherein the ratio of the area of the flat elongate body to the area of the adhesive paste is from 1.87:1 to 1.65:1.

The ratio of the area of the elongate body to the area of adhesive paste is typically from 1.85:1 to 1.81:1. According to a particularly preferred embodiment the ratio of the length of the elongate body to the length of adhesive paste is typically 1.85:1.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an epilatory device comprising a flat elongate body having an adhesive paste medium applied to a first side of the body, wherein the ratio of the length of the flat elongate body to the length of the adhesive paste is from 1.25:1 to 1.15:1 and wherein the ratio of the area of the flat elongate body to the area of the adhesive paste is from 1.87:1 to 1.65:1.

The ratio of the length of the elongate body to the length of adhesive paste is typically from 1.24:1 to 1.21:1. According to a particularly preferred embodiment the ratio of the length of the elongate body to the length of adhesive paste is typically 1.23:1.

The ratio of the area of the elongate body to the area of adhesive paste is typically from 1.85:1 to 1.80:1. According to a particularly preferred embodiment the ratio of the length of the elongate body to the length of adhesive paste is typically 1.85:1.

Typically the ratio of the length of the elongate body to the length of adhesive paste is from 1.24:1 to 1.21:1 and the ratio of the area of the elongate body to the area of adhesive paste is from 1.85:1 to 1.80:1. More typically the ratio of the length of the elongate body to the length of adhesive paste is 1.23:1 and the ratio of the area of the elongate body to the area of adhesive paste is 1.85:1.

The length of the flat elongate body is typically 160 mm or less.

It is preferred that the substrate of the elongate body of the first, second and third aspects is a non-woven material or cellophane, however it is envisaged that any suitable substrate may be used.

The device of the first, second and third aspects can further include a grab member which is held by the user to aid removal of the device from a user's body part. Typically, the grab member is substantially free of adhesive paste medium.

It is preferred that the body and/or grab member of the device of the first, second and third aspects has indicia applied thereto. The indicia may be instructions or other indicia which may provide guidance to an end user on how to use the epilatory device. The indicia may be, for example, one or more arrows which give guidance to the user on which way to pull the epilatory device away from the user's body in use. The indicia may be on the body and/or the grab member.

It is envisaged that two epilatory devices are attached together; typically the adhesive paste medium on a first epilatory device is attached to adhesive paste medium on a second epilatory device. In use, the first epilatory device and the second epilatory device are ‘peelable’ in order to allow easy separation of the epilatory device at the moment of use.

The wax strips of the present invention can be made using any suitable technique known to the man skilled in the art.

The wax strips of the present invention (designated as inventive Example A and B below) were tested by a panel of consumers along with a comparative example.

Inventive Example A had a flat elongate body with a length of 160 mm. Onto this body a 130 mm length of adhesive paste had been applied. The ratio of the length of the elongated body to the adhesive paste was 1.2307. The width of the flat elongate body was 75 mm and the width of the adhesive paste was 50 mm. Therefore the area of the flat elongate body was 12,000 mm and the area of the adhesive paste was 6,500 mm. Thus the ratio of the area of the flat elongate body to the adhesive paste was 1.8461.

Inventive Example B had a flat elongate body with a length of 155 mm. Onto this body a 130 mm length of adhesive paste had been applied. The ratio of the length of the flat elongate body to the adhesive paste was 1.1923. The width of the flat elongate body was 75 mm and the width of the adhesive paste was 50 mm. Therefore the area of the flat elongate body was 11,625 mm and the area of the adhesive paste was 6,500 mm. Thus the ratio of the area of the flat elongate body to the adhesive paste was 1.788.

The comparative example had a flat elongate body with a length of 165 mm. Onto this body a 130 mm length of adhesive paste had been applied. The ratio of the length of the body to the adhesive paste was 1.2692.

The width of the flat elongate body was 75 mm and the width of the adhesive paste was 50 mm. Therefore the area of the flat elongate body was 12,375 mm. The area of the adhesive paste was 6,500 mm. The ratio of the area of the body to the adhesive paste was 1.9038.

Various attributes of the epilatory devices of the invention were specifically assessed using the epilatory device on the underarms and legs as shown in Table 1.

The results are shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Inventive Inventive Comparative Test Example A Example B Example Ease of pulling 8.4 8.3 7.9 strip apart Ease of applying 8.4 8.0 7.6 strip (underarms) (underarms) (underarms) 8.7 (legs) 8.7 (legs) 8.3 (legs) Ease of gripping 8.3 8.2 7.4 tab (underarms) (underarms) (underarms) 8.6 (legs) 8.6 (legs) 8.3 (legs) Ease of removal 8.4 8.4 6.9 (underarms) (underarms) (underarms) 8.4 (legs) 8.7 (legs) 7.9 (legs) Ease of quick 8.4 8.2 7.3 removal (underarms) (underarms) (underarms) 8.4 (legs) 8.5 (legs) 8.3 (legs) Ease of pulling 8.4 8.1 6.9 strip back on (underarms) (underarms) (underarms) itself 8.4 (legs) 8.4 (legs) 7.9 (legs) Effectiveness 8.2 7.9 6.8 of hair removal (underarms) (underarms) (underarms) 8.3 (legs) 8.1 (legs) 7.5 (legs) Smoothness of 8.5 8.2 7.3 skin after use (underarms) (underarms) (underarms) 8.3 (legs) 7.9 (legs) 7.9 (legs) Consumers with 41% (legs) 35% (legs) 22% (legs) no residue on skin after use

An advantage of the present invention is that there is provided an improved wax strip whose design has been optimised such that it provides efficacious hair removal without leaving any significant wax residue on a user's skin.

Further modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention described herein. 

1. An epilatory device comprising a flat elongate body having an adhesive paste medium applied to a first side of the body, wherein the ratio of the length of the flat elongate body to the length of the adhesive paste is from 1.25:1 to 1.15:1.
 2. The epilatory device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ratio of the length of the elongate body to the length of adhesive paste is from 1.24:1 to 1.21:1.
 3. The epilatory device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ratio of the length of the elongate body to the length of adhesive paste is 1.23:1.
 4. The epilatory device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the length of the flat elongate body is 160 mm or less.
 5. An epilatory device comprising a flat elongate body having an adhesive paste medium applied to a first side of the body, wherein the ratio of the area of the flat elongate body to the area of the adhesive paste is from 1.87:1 to 1.65:1.
 6. The epilatory device as claimed in claim 5, wherein the ratio of the area of the elongate body to the area of adhesive paste is from 1.85:1 to 1.81:1.
 7. The epilatory device as claimed in claim 5, wherein the ratio of the length of the elongate body to the length of adhesive paste is 1.85:1.
 8. An epilatory device comprising a flat elongate body having an adhesive paste medium applied to a first side of the body, wherein the ratio of the length of the flat elongate body to the length of the adhesive paste is from 1.25:1 to 1.15:1, and wherein the ratio of the area of the flat elongate body to the area of the adhesive paste is from 1.87:1 to 1.65:1.
 9. The epilatory device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the ratio of the length of the elongate body to the length of adhesive paste is from 1.24:1 to 1.21:1.
 10. The epilatory device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the ratio of the length of the elongate body to the length of adhesive paste is 1.23:1.
 11. The epilatory device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the ratio of the area of the elongate body to the area of adhesive paste is from 1.85:1 to 1.80:1.
 12. The epilatory device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the ratio of the area of the elongate body to the area of adhesive paste is 1.85:1.
 13. The epilatory device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the ratio of the length of the elongate body to the length of adhesive paste is from 1.24:1 to 1.21:1, and the ratio of the area of the elongate body to the area of adhesive paste is from 1.85:1 to 1.80:1.
 14. The epilatory device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the ratio of the length of the elongate body to the length of adhesive paste is 1.23:1, and the ratio of the area of the elongate body to the area of adhesive paste is 1.85:1.
 15. The epilatory device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the length of the flat elongate body is 160 mm or less.
 16. The epilatory device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the substrate of the elongate body is a non-woven material.
 17. The epilatory device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the substrate of the elongate body is cellophane. 